Of course, you'll know the entire, confused, manky England team by heart, no matter who Hodgson starts or sits.But you'll be surprised how many of the doodz on the other national teams you actually know — a function of theEnglish Premiere League being the tip-top, bestest league in the world, where most everyone wants to play.

You won't know hardly any of the do0dz on the Croatian national team, but you'll still be pleasantly surprised to see Nikica Jelavic (Everton), Luka Modric, Niko Kranjcar and Vedran Corluka (all Tottenham). (You might've also seen Ivan Klasnic (Bolton), but the national coach just dropped him.)

Will Spain make it into the history books? — There is more at stake than the chance to become the first repeat European champions. Spain – the reigning World Cup champions – can also become the first team to claim three international tournaments in a row.

Will Cristiano Ronaldo shine on the international stage at last? — The Portuguese star is finishing off a splendid club season, one that could see him add another UEFA Champions League winner’s medal* to the La Liga crown he is almost sure to win with Real Madrid. His 54 goals – and counting – point to a player at the peak of his powers. Rare have been the moments he has excelled on the international stage, however. EDIT:*Ronaldo and Real Madrid lost to Bayern Munich the day after this guy wrote this article. fyi

Speaking of the GROUP of DEATH — Whenever the draw in a major tournament is announced, a group is slapped with the “Group of Death” label. In this instance, the tag doesn’t do justice to the four unfortunates in Group B! While the FIFA World Rankings should be taken with more than a pinch of one’s favorite seasoning, in this instance they’re instructive. All four teams are currently ranked in the top ten. Denmark, the presumed weak entrant in the group, is currently ranked ninth, with Portugal fifth, the Netherlands fourth, and Germany second.

“Il Trap” takes on the country of his birth — Prior to the draw, Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni made no secret of his desire to avoid Italy, who he managed at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004. So of course, the footballing gods decided to place the two countries together in Group C...

Will the host nations do themselves proud? — Poland and Ukraine can’t do any worse than the previous tournament's co-hosts – Switzerland and Austria – neither of whom made it out of the group stage, recording just a win and a draw between them. The good folks at UEFA have done everything in their power to avoid such an embarrassment again: Poland has been drawn into a ridiculously easy group alongside Greece, Russia, and the Czech Republic.

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Now we gotta get going and get our league set up...the UEFA/McDonald's game looks like the one for us (thanks, Nihilist).

Go get registered and poke around; I will get us a league going shortly.

If anyone drafts English players for their Euro 2012 team, I will say this much: you're very brave (or maybe just stoopid?).

I've never felt less optimistic about our national team than I do now. It's not even Roy H's fault: I actually like his appointment (better choice than 'arry "Dog Bank Account" Redknapp IMO), but the players...ugh. Not inspiring.

FnG’s Bwing on the Euwos 2012!Er, and, we'll see you in Ukwaine against Fwance!

Yes, it's wrong, and we don't condone that sort of behavior,but The Sun — in their marvelous display of journalism acumen — set us up with our league name without realizing it. And in honor of Uncle Woy getting the reigns of the Thwee Lions, we gotta do this...

In all seriousness, the Sun really should be shot for that headline. Roy is the most qualified manager we've had in years. Former international experience, turned Switzerland (SWITZERLAND!!!) into an international force, and has won far more silverware than 'arry.

[FnG] Nihilist wrote:In all seriousness, the Sun really should be shot for that headline. Roy is the most qualified manager we've had in years.

This is all true. FnG's Bwing on the Euwos 2012 league is indeed born from the ashes of shame and ruin.

But to be honest, (Uncle) Roy Hodgson is kind of tactically dull (or at least conservative), which wouldn't matter if Fulham or Liverpool had gone on big winning streaks, but they mostly didn't. Also, according to the Sun, he may in fact talk a bit funny. (appalling decision to run that, btw)

I think, despite the qualifications, and given the personnel mess he's been handed (thanks, England's Brave John Terry), there is a prevailing sense that he's going to lead England to a sort of .500 record — win some, lose some. In the end, all to no great effect.(don't get me wrong, I wish him and them well, just not holding my breath...)

[FnG] Da Kril wrote:But to be honest, (Uncle) Roy Hodgson is kind of tactically dull (or at least conservative), which wouldn't matter if Fulham or Liverpool had gone on big winning streaks, but they mostly didn't. Also, according to the Sun, he may in fact talk a bit funny. (appalling decision to run that, btw)

Fulham qualified for Europe under him, which is quite an achievement!

I also think Tactically Dull is appropriate for our national team. The English game breeds one dimensional players with borderline zero attacking flair. The reason there are so many creative continental players in the Prem is that there are no English creative players worth a damn.

Simply put, English players are about 30-40 years behind the times. We're still training as if the days of physical kick-and-rush football at still the way of things, whereas the likes of Germany, Spain and France have pushed on to the next level. We're out of date, out of time, out of ideas and out of players.

Successions of continental minded managers have failed with the England team. The Golden Generation turned out to be Fool's Gold, and the successors are even worse. Dull, discplined tactics are about all we can hope to (successfully) utilize right now.

I think, despite the qualifications, and given the personnel mess he's been handed (thanks, England's Brave John Terry), there is a prevailing sense that he's going to lead England to a sort of .500 record — win some, lose some. In the end, all to no great effect.

Yep, that's what I'm expecting.

English international football needs to change at a grass roots level. We're irrelevant right now.

Woah, Nigel de Jong? Is he even healthy? Anyway, he's a defensive midfielder who cleats people in the nipples...while they're upright and running toward him.

Don't see the fantasy potential there, but speaking of potential — red card waiting to happen.

I just auto-filled my team for now, and my team kit looks like just-washed undies and diapers... _______

I've just been poking around the McDonald's game rules,trying to wrap my head around the differences in this gamefrom the Barclays' one. (no hurry, really – we have almost a month)

It's very similar to Barclays, but there are some fundamental differences too.First thing to remember is, teams will be dropping out left and right after thegroup stage ends, so you're going to be losing doodz at an accelerating rate.

They compensate for that with an increasing allowance of more players fromthe same team — from 2 in the group stage to 12 by the final.

Also, your budget is €100 million, but they give you another €5 million atthe start of the knockout stage.

Apparently, we can sort of cherry-pick our subs! That is to say,you can sub out a dood just for sucking. But the dood coming onmust NOT have played yet, and the dood going off can't havebeen actually sent off in his match. Hmm, interesting.You can even sub your captain if he's a fail, roll the dice onsomeone else on your bench. Woot.

Auto-subs at the end of the "match day" seem to work the same as FPL.

Transfers: Unlimited before Matchday 1.1 for Matchday 2. 1 for Matchday 3.Unlimited at the start of the knockout stage.8 for the semi-finals and 4 for the Final.You get one transfer wildcard to play anywhere in the tournament.

Also, note that the player lists right now are provisional — subject to change.(real world national managers haven't yet made their final choices...)(See Hodgson, Roy, and Terry, England's Brave John)

Yeah, I had $5.0 left and didn't know what to do with it. I figured why not? (Plus let's face it: First gameweek isn't until June 8. I'm sure we'll all be rearranging our teams well before that. )

Looking over the scoring rules, I like that they give defenders points for clearances! That's a huge thing that Barclays FPL was missing, I feel. Clean sheets didn't really tell you the whole story of a team's defense, and because of that you always felt like you had to grab defenders who either really played up along strikers or big beefy ones who joined in on set pieces.